The invention relates to a process for connecting the ends of sheets or webs running off from reels (supply rolls) or the like, especially for packaging material in packaging machines, a first running sheet being severed from an emptied reel and the start of a second running sheet being fed from a full reel and being connected to the first running sheet.
High-performance packaging machines have, because of the packs made per unit of time, a correspondingly high packaging material requirement. In this process, the blanks for the packs are made, in or on the packaging machine, by severing continuous sheets of packaging material (paper, tinfoil, transparent film, plastic film or the like). Because of the finite length of the sheets of packaging material, which are present in the form of reels (supply rolls), it is necessary from time to time to replace the emptied reels by full ones. During this loading of the packaging machine, the latter has to be stopped, so that the start of the sheet of the full reel can be connected to the end of the sheet on the emptied reel.
Attempts to mechanize or carry out automatically the connection of the start of a new sheet to the end of a sheet on an emptied roll have not provided any results satisfactory in practice. The main difficulty is the fact that, after the full new reel has been connected and its sheet has been introduced into the packaging process, the next full reel located in storage has to be brought by hand into a position of readiness so that it can be introduced into the packaging process next.